MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MISUSED? MEDIA INQUIRY SENT TO ADL-RAMGAVAR (ADL-R), ITS CULTURAL ARM, TCA, ALL TCA/ADL-OWNED MEDIA OUTLETS REMAINS UNANSWERED
Posted on March. 9. 2024
TRANSCRIPTION — USA ARMENIAN LIFE TV — 03 01 2024
Below is the transcription of the USA ARMENIAN LIFE TV program in Armenian of March 1, which was carried out with the participation of investigative journalists Appo Jabarian and Voskan Mekhitarian.
APPO JABARIAN: Dear Viewers, Good evening,
My interlocutor today is a well-known public speaker and investigative journalist, Mr. Vosgan Mekhitarian.
Today’s topic is an urgent topic. Don’t let it fall off your radar, because what we do today, what we think, and what we do, we will harvest tomorrow.
There is a famous Armenian saying, “if you don’t work in the summer, you will be deprived in the Winter.” So, it is the same in collective life.
Our individual life may be very happy, but we cannot, we cannot be guided by the psychology of living in an ivory tower. If our immediate circle and better yet, the extended circle – the nation, the whole nation, not only the family, is not good we should not rest and be indifferent. Egocentrism is a dead end.
Self-centeredness is not good; we should think about the bigger family. And we have to get out of the Soviet-Ottoman way of thinking.
If we really want to return to our healthy roots, we must forget those bad Ottoman-Soviet habits and return to our true noble and dignified Armenian persona and each of us become a sovereign human being, a sovereign citizen, then we will have a sovereign state. With the twin republics of Armenia and Artsakh, we will also have a fairly healthy and vibrant, cheerful nation, the Armenian Nation, with its native and Diaspora people.
But we won’t be able to implement all of that, if we don’t take care of our immediate surroundings, as they say, “of our immediate vicinity”.
(Sometimes I use English words, because many old-timer American Armenian friends suggest that we present these programs also in English, so that they will be better informed. Perhaps the time will come and we will secure the necessary budget, and we will expand further. For this reason, I must express my deepest gratitude to the supporters, readers, advertisers and sponsors of USA ARMENIAN LIFE and HYE KIANK.)
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Now let’s come to the most important prerequisite for perpetuating our endangered heritage and identity; for consolidating the twin Armenian republics’ Sovereignty, Independence and Defense. What should we do in order to put the future of our nation on a healthier foundation, to achieve a bright dawn for the generations to come? We must clean our house.
So, our internal parasites must be exposed, One such group of parasites is the Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) leadership. Today’s topic is related to the Tekeyan Cultural Association leadership, but as you saw in our previous programs, unfortunately a number of religious, civic and political organizations were taken over by autocrats. We need to bring to light the dark deeds done by their leadership.
In the last few years we have been hearing many readers’ and TV viewers’ voices of protest about the unjustified closure of TCA Arshak Dikranian School in 2015.
Many are asking “It is already 2024, why until now the TCA Arshak Dikranian School has not reopened in Los Angeles; Why has the TCA systematically drove down the number of students? Was it staged so that the TCA leadership can use that as a pretext to liquidate the school and its real estate assets?
Other are noting and wondering: “A short while after forcing into premature ‘retirement’ the Founding Principle Vartkes Kourouyan, and bringing in a novice as a principle under whose watchful yet helpless eyes, The TCA Arshak Dikranian School was shut down on the promise that in the TCA will re-establish the school in a new location where there is a large Armenian community. But why ignore the fact Hollywood has a large Armenian community?”
Mr. Mekhitarian, How come another Armenian school in Hollywood, Rose and Alex Pilibos is still thriving?
More than 2 months since a Media Inquiry was sent to the Tekeyan Cultural Association (TCA) its parent organization Armenian Democratic League Ramgavar (ADL-R), and the ADL-R-controlled newspapers raising the above questions. The Media Inquiry remains unanswered till today. This is very shameful.
In order to refresh the memory of the public about an important Parent-Teacher Organization meeting that took place in 2015, let’s watch a 2-minute video together, which was recorded by the parents in mid April 2015. Let’s watch and continue our conversation.
9:52 — Parent #1 (Female) is addressing her inquiry to the School Principal: “First of all, answer if the school building is sold or not.”
9:57- School Principal. No
9:58 — Parent #1 (Female) – Do you want to continue or not?
10:00 — School Principal. Yes
10:14 — School Principal – whatever is in my hands… I’m ready to do whatever you want me to do.
10:19 — Parent #3 (Male) – Answer one question. Is the building in escrow or not? This is an important question. If it’s in escrow we should know.
10:38 — School Principal. No. But this rumor has been around for a year.
10:49 — Parent #4 (Male) – Tell us one thing so we can understand whether the (Tekeyan) Cultural Association is preserved or not. Mr. Mandossian, tell me whether the Cultural Association will be preserved or not. Declare in one clear word.
11:10 – Mandossian: ….
11:19 — Parent #4 (Male) – Mr. Mandossian, when you don’t say Tekeyan Cultural Association made an election, neither you, nor he, nor he. Can you explain whether the Cultural Association wants to keep the school or not? Answer. So that we … Let us understand you and the others.
12:10 — School Principal. Yes
12:12 — Parent #5 (Female) – I repeat again. The school building has not been sold. Sorry, Mr. Mandossian, I know. The Central Administration says it wants to continue. Leave it without shouting and insulting, will it be possible to raise money with everyone’s efforts, be it through fundraisers, be it through membership fees, collecting donations? There will be no shouting. Let the Central Administration tell us to do whatever we need to do. We know that there are millions of stories in every family. … Well, in order to save that family… when you are in a desperate situation, you say urgent things… clearly tell us to close the material shortage and continue the school…
VOSGAN MEKHITARIAN: Mr. Jabarian, you have placed your finger on the wound, because as we have often called and raised the fact that the Armenian Church is one of the pillars of our identity, we will never abstain from saying the same thing for our schools. The Armenian schools are the repositories of our identity. It is there that we can give birth to our future generations. And today, while having a deep awareness, our Ramgavar brothers closed the TCA Arshag Dikranian School, as you mentioned in various announcements.
Years have passed today. A (replacement) school has not been built. And those students probably went to non-Armenian schools, because there is only one Armenian school in Hollywood, the Rose & Alex Pilibos School.
Rose & Alex Pilibos School has a long waiting list. All those who live within Armenian culture, want their children and grandchildren to go to Armenian school. However, Rose & Alex Pilibos School has limited places and as a result, our Armenian students are being deprived of Armenian education.
Dear Ramgavar brothers, you sold this school without even giving an accounting to begin with. There is no accountability and transparency in all these organizations of ours. Of course, officially, we all know that the school was sold for $14.5 million. Now let’s ask one more question, that we asked in the past. I didn’t know if he would care enough to turn around in his grave today, Yervand Edmond Azadian: What happened to that $14.5 million and why haven’t you used that money to open a new school, be it in Glendale or any region of the Valley? This means that you lied to the people. It will be 10 years since closing the school (2015-2024).
What happened to the funds?
Where is the $14.5 million? Whose account is deposited in Florida? I am divulging these details because I know from my Ramgavar brothers where that money is today. Now, Where will it end up? When will we learn to be transparent and accountable in this civilized world? In the end, these institutions do not belong to you, nor to me, nor to this organization, nor to that party. They belong to the Armenian nation.
Why are you doing this? It is so difficult to remain an Armenian in the Diaspora. Is there anyone who does not know? We will lose our generations. We will not be able to prepare an Armenian generation with a small number of schools. It is difficult. Our new generation is only English-speaking. Barely 3% went to an Armenian school, probably not even that many now. How will our torchbearers fare in the coming years? What will become of our dreams for the Motherland Armenia, for Artsakh, for Western Armenia?
Shall we wash my hands? “We will be assimilated.” These calls will not be enough, dear ones. One hears these calls on and on. Let’s act, let’s turn our deeds into reality, in order to achieve success. Closing the school is a betrayal of the Armenian people. The enemy is capable of doing such things and not us. It is true that setbacks are coming from our own people, our own people.
Beloved, we need to find a cure for the disease in all our organizations, the disease is the same everywhere: the churches, the charitable organizations, the political parties — all of them have neither accountability nor transparency. And then they will say: “Why is there no participation by the new generation?” Because you didn’t pay attention to the new generation, you didn’t want them to come and occupy positions, we see the same faces that are getting old.
We used to see images in the National Church General Assembly. It’s the same faces. Let’s make room for the young people, our new generation. Give them an opportunity to come up with new ideas and enrich our churches, our schools, and our organizations. Do not ignore the youth, because they are our future. You and I are not.
We are already going through the last stage of life. Therefore, let’s lend a hand to those who are left behind and share with them our experience and pay attention to the young people. Because they can convey healthy thoughts. Therefore, the time has come for us to get out of this rotten atmosphere, become transparent, be accountable to our people and woo them to come and take part in our national life.
Our national life is not about eating and drinking, Dear Ones. We are gradually losing our culture in the Diaspora. We cannot keep Armenians with 2 dinner banquets. We need a school, we need a church, we need an organization where young people can come together and have their say. Let’s give an opportunity to our youth and include them in our national collective life.
APPO JABARIAN: Catholicos Karekin I Sarkissian, and not the ignorant Karegin II, spoke very highly of the providential role of the Armenian school in these Diaspora.
As Mr. Mekhitarian mentioned, assimilation is a major threat. It is very easy to lose the identity of an Armenian person in the Diaspora. Therefore, it is more than vital that the Armenian schools, Armenian cultural, sports, religious organizations be maintained in a healthy state.
In the last program we talked about “The Elephant in the Room”. In today’s program we will talk about “The Elephant in the Room” so our people can throw the elephant out of the room. They are obliged to throw the elephant out of the room, because if the elephant stays in the room there would be no place to breathe, there would be no place to sit. As Mr. Mekhitarian mentioned, they push our youth away. Yes, they do. In order to justify their misdeeds these same organizational autocrats claim “Oh, the youth are not interested.”
Such a big lie. This lie must come to an end. We cannot look the other way just because there is an elephant in the room. The elephant must be expelled. Our National House should be inhabited by the rightful citizens of the Armenian Nation. So, today, we touched upon the issue involving The Tekeyan Cultural Association and its parent organization The ADL Ramgavar Party.
There is a joke: When two Armenians meet, they establish 3 parties. There is a bit of an exaggeration, but in reality, our people are active and prosperous. Therefore, this vitality over the centuries has enabled them to accumulate a wealth of organizations. Mr. Mekhitarian is going to address the question — What should we do to protect them?
Mr. Mekhitarian?
VOSGAN MEKHITARIAN: Mr. Jabarian, the place where the new generation will get stronger and get deep recognition of their identity is the Armenian school. We have to say with a heavy heart that as a result of the recent political upheavals, as a result of some, but in general, failure on our part, the closing of all Armenian schools around the world, especially all those beautiful schools in Lebanon, Hovaguimian-Manookian, Tarouhi Hagopian … Hagop Vartivarian wrote an insightful investigative article and mentioned all the schools that were unjustly liquidated. For example, Melkonian College of Cyprus. How can you close such a school that has raised such a beautiful generation? That he has brought up so many generations who became teachers in other schools, successful entrepreneurs, leaders around the world.
Former students of Melkonian College of Cyprus stood up but failed to bring the college back to life. Fortunately, the Greek government intervened and the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU) was not allowed to liquidate the real estate assets, as the others did. Where are you heading to AGBU?
Mr. Berge Setrakian, where are you taking the AGBU? It is the school where our students will form their national identity. That is where they will be raised, where they will be baptized in the Armenian language created by St. Mesrob. Some of our schools are not there anymore. You are shutting them down. You lost the school in Pasadena, California. Your colleagues at TCA closed Arshak Dikranian School. You closed them in Lebanon. What are you going to close next? What are you keeping those funds for?
Our Sunday schools are not enough. Mr. Setrakian. How will we save our people when we close our schools? It’s time, let’s come side by side, put our heads together and think about what we will leave behind for our new generation.
Instead of closing, let’s do our best to open new schools, because the need is everywhere.